To Touch The Sun
by KissKissBiteBite
Summary: She was just supposed to be Laura's annoying friend. But, he couldn't stop looking at her, like he was a kid and he couldn't stop staring at the sun. And, god, she was definitely more trouble than she was worth. Derek/OC
1. Prologue

Summer Alamassy was almost the personification of the season she was named after. Except for her pale skin, she was walking summer. With blonde hair, bright green eyes, and freckles covering her nose and cheeks, she was full of light and warmth. It was something Derek loved to see.

But the summer season was usually hot and made people irritable, so, Summer (the person) was usually kept at arm's length with Derek. She orbited. She walked in and walked out but never stayed for too long. And that just meant that Derek had to visit Laura outside of the apartment she shared with Summer. Something about her placed Derek on edge. Laura teased him endlessly. She said he was "a schoolboy with a crush" which he vehemently denied. He didn't like her. She was a friend. A friend he couldn't be around for more than a handful of hours at a time, but a friend nonetheless.

"C'mon, Derek. You've met my family, shouldn't I meet yours? I'm flying out to California for my friend's bachelorette party anyway." She held up her keys and let them jingle. "I'll drive." Summer laughed just as the cool New York breeze caught her pale blonde hair and whipped it around her face.

Derek didn't say anything and her smile disappeared.

"Laura said I should."

Derek looked up at her at the sound of his sister's name.

"And she's coming with me too. I bought her ticket for her. There's no way I'm letting her drive, like, 45 hours."

"Laura's going back to California?"

"Yeah. She got a letter a few days ago and she wants to go right away. We're leaving in the morning. You can come with us. I have all of those sky miles I need to use up by the end of the year anyway."

"What about your classes?"

"I'm still on summer break. I have like a whole month and a half left."

"And your job?"

"I've stored up about three months of vacation time and I'm only using two weeks of it." She sighed. "If you don't want me to meet them, that's fine, Derek. But I'm going to California with Laura. I guess...I'll just talk to you when we get back." She turned to walk away but his large hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"There are things about my family that I just...I don't think you're ready to know."

She frowned and poked him in his stomach. This only resulted in her finger hurting. "You know, I've been your wingman way too many times for you to pull this dark and broody card with me."


	2. Chapter One

**Okay, loves! First, thank you so much to all of the people who have favorite-d and followed this story! I can't express how much that means to me! Second, no real Derek interaction in this chapter. That will come next chapter, I promise. But you all know what that means ( :( ). Sorry, I'm just really attached to Laura Hale. Please let me know what you all think. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Cheers!**

* * *

"C'mon, one picture," Laura said, a slight pleading tone to her voice. She held up her expensive phone, ready to take a picture. The plane was still loading passengers and they had time to kill. Summer just wanted to read her book but Laura always had a way to make her laugh.

"I really don't think Derek would want to see my ugly mug on his phone."

"Y'know, you might be surprised."

Summer rolled her eyes.

"Just one picture. I want him to know that everything's all right.'

"But everything isn't all right. You still haven't told me the actual reason why you're coming out to California."

Laura grabbed Summer's hand and squeezed. "I promise I'll tell you when I figure everything out. Okay?"

Summer sighed. "Fine. And fine, one picture."

Laura squealed happily and pulled Summer close, squishing their faces together as the camera clicked. Laura looked at the small screen and smiled. "Oh, he'll love it. And I think that'll keep him from blowing up my phone, asking where I'm going."

"Wait, even Derek doesn't know where you're going?"

"Uh, yeah." She flicked a piece of her perfect brown hair over her shoulder. "Didn't I tell you that?"

"No. And now you're really freaking me out, Laura. Just what the hell is in California?"

Laura pressed a few buttons on her phone and then turned to face Summer. "I promise, I promise, I promise, I'll tell you when I figure everything out."

Summer sighed and rubbed her temples, ruffling her blonde curls. "Fine. You know how I feel about promises."

"Rarely made. Never broken," Laura said, knowing Summer's code very well.

After the plane landed, Laura nearly dragged Summer through the bustling airport. They had a plan. The bachelorette party wouldn't even start for another few days and Laura had promised to show Summer Beacon Hills. So, the pair of them slid into a stuffy rental car and sped off.

Laura spoke excitedly about her adventures in the heavily wooded, but still metropolitan town.

"I'm just excited for you to see it."

"I am too," Summer said. She knew that Laura and Derek had basically fled Beacon Hills after a fire in their family home claimed the lives of their parents and that they were placed under the care of their extended family up in New York but that was basically it. Laura didn't like to talk about it and Summer didn't like to pry.

They drove for almost an hour before the "Welcome to Beacon Hills" sign appeared in their windshield.

"Home," Laura breathed.

Summer just smiled.

* * *

Derek looked at the picture on his phone and tried not to smile. But he failed.

Laura was squishing her nose against Summer's cheek as she laughed. Summer's smile was wide and toothy; and it was beautiful.

He slid his phone into his pocket and used the spare key Laura had given him to give him entry into her apartment.

It was surprisingly neat. Laura wasn't the cleanest of people but he supposed it was Summer who cleaned. She was unsurprisingly maternal.

The apartment smelled of them. Mostly, it was Laura's scent. Despite spending the last few years surrounded by concrete and glass, Laura's scent was still full of woods and dirt and lavender. But underneath that scent, it was all Summer. It was fresh linen, roses, and sea salt. Again, she was walking summer.

Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath before heading off toward Laura's room in search of what drew her back to California.

* * *

The car slowed to a stop at the end of a long dirt driveway.

Summer woke up from her nap and stretched. She blinked slowly, trying to adjust to her new surroundings.

"What's this place?"

Laura didn't smile and didn't look at Summer. "This is my old home." She quickly got out of the car and Summer followed.

The pair didn't say anything as they ventured farther into the woods. Summer just followed Laura, trusting her completely.

But then the burned-out shell of a former home appeared before them.

"This is my home," Laura said, her tone airy.

Summer looked at the burned edges of the roof, trying to keep herself busy. She wanted to ask questions but she knew Laura could be more cryptic than Derek. And Laura had been her best friend for six years. They graduated high school together and then went to college together before sharing an apartment after they graduated from their alma mater up in New York.

A warm hand grabbed Summer's and squeezed. She looked over to see Laura looking up at her house without a trace of emotion on her face.

"I wanted you to see this. I'm sorry about keeping quiet about it for so long. I just…I just didn't want you to think that I was some tragic little girl."

"I know you're anything but tragic, Laura," Summer said, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder.

"I had this big family. Huge. My mom was the matriarch and she just insisted on everyone living together. She filled every room in that house. Someone was always playing on the piano, or sneaking out of one of the windows, or breaking a plate. There was so much noise. It was hard to sleep at night, sometimes. But now, I can't hear anything but music." Laura was quiet for a moment. "It wasn't just my parents who died. Eleven people died. My little sister, Cora, aunts, uncles, cousins. They're all gone."

If it had been anyone else, Summer would have said "Sorry for your loss." But Summer knew Laura hated hearing that. She hated it.

So, she just squeezed Laura's hand a little tighter and kissed her cheek.

They stood there for a little while longer before Laura tugged on the end of one of Summer's curls and stood a little straighter.

"C'mon. Let's get out of here."


	3. Chapter Two

**All right! Chapter two! Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to read, review, favorite, and follow this little story of mine. Please let me know what you think. Cheers!**

* * *

Summer shoved the rest of her makeup back into her toiletry bag before doing a turn in front of Laura who laughed and clapped as they both stood in their upscale hotel room.

"You approve?" Summer asked, smoothing out the wrinkles in her little black dress.

"I do. The boys at the club won't know what hit them."

"You know, you were invited to Sarah's bachelorette party too. I don't understand why you're not coming along."

"Berkeley isn't exactly my scene," Laura said with a slight laugh.

"It isn't Sarah's either. She moved out here with that boy of hers—remember him? We swore they wouldn't last when they met senior year—and all of a sudden they're getting married and I'm the only New Yorker going to this bachelorette fiasco in a sea of Californians."

"You'll survive."

Summer pouted. "Fine. But, are you sure it's all right for me to take the car?"

"Yeah. Just bring it back in one piece by the morning." Laura laughed before throwing the keys to the rental to Summer, who attempted to catch them and failed.

"Dammit." She bent and picked them up. "One last chance, you can still come with me."

"Last time, no." Laura shook her head. "I've got some stuff to do here anyway."

Summer just nodded, knowing Laura would just get upset if she asked to know what Laura was doing (again).

"Okay. I'm heading out. I have my cell charged just in case you need anything."

"I'll let you know." Laura rolled her eyes. "You better not come back with any of that penis paraphernalia. I don't want any of that in my car."

"Penis straws are hilarious. I'm gonna bring one back for you anyway." Summer blew a kiss toward the disgruntled Laura and walked out of the hotel room, jingling the keys along the way.

* * *

The club was loud and hot and crowded. And she has had four gin and tonics spilt all over her favorite black dress. Summer wanted to leave. And maybe she could—Sarah was smashed out of her mind and all of her other friends didn't really seem all that interested in whatever Summer was doing. So, she could just slip away.

And, it seems the universe was on her side. Her cell phone lit up with a call and Summer quickly escaped to the outdoor balcony, which seemed to be deserted.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm so sorry that I'm calling and you're supposed to be having fun with Sarah-"

"Laura. Stop. What's wrong?"

"I'm going to meet someone in a few minutes. I just…something doesn't feel right."

"Okay, I'm on my way." She quickly pocketed her phone and shoved her way through the bustling crowd and into the parking lot. Silently thankful for convincing Sarah to let her drive on her own, she sped back to the hotel.

Laura was pacing back and forth, biting her thumbnail, a nervous habit of hers.

Not bothering to shut the car off, Summer pushed the car into park and leapt off the leather seat. "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice rising to a strange octave.

"Can, um, can you just drive me somewhere?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Summer shuffled Laura into the car and followed Laura's directions while easily going over the speed limit. A wolf howled in the distance.

She slid to a quick stop but Laura jumped out of the car before the speedometer reached zero.

"Stay in the car!" Laura yelled before running into the woods.

Summer retracted her hand and leaned against the plush leather of the seat. She knew better than to disregard any sort of warning from Laura—she learned that the hard way after Laura told her not to walk across Central Park after dark.

Rain started to fall. It was sporadic and light, as if it wasn't quite sure it was supposed to be raining or not.

But then she heard the wolf howl, punctuated by a scream she knew belonged to Laura.

And all of Summer's sensibility was gone and she leapt out of the car and into the rain.

"Laura! Laura?! Where are you?!"

She ran blindly into the forest not knowing where she was going in the slightest. But she just needed to find Laura. Her sense of direction was always a little less than subpar and now with the thunder rolling overhead, she couldn't discern where the scream or growl had come from.

Another scream had her running farther, pushing her legs faster. Her ankles seemed to be rolling with every other step, her spiked heels sinking into the mud.

"Summer! Run!" She heard Laura scream.

But Summer needed to find Laura. But it seemed that she was running in circles. So, as ridiculous as it seemed, she pulled her phone out of the small pocket of her dress and hit the one number she thought she could help.

"Do you have any idea what time-"

"Derek, shut up," she said, her voice raspy. "Laura's in trouble. I can't find her. We're in Be-Beacon Hills and she was supposed to meet someone and she just screamed...I don't know what's going on." She tried to keep pumping her legs, tried to keep running and find Laura.

"Who was she meeting?"

"I don't know! And oh my god, there's wolves out here. I can hear them! They're everywhere-"

"Summer-" Derek stopped saying whatever he was about to say when he heard Summer gasp.

"Laura! Laura, baby..."

"Summer? What do you see?"

"Oh my god, Derek, there's blood ev-everywhere..."

He could hear her heartbeat through the phone. "Is she still bleeding?"

"Laura!" It sounded like she dropped the phone. He heard the distinctive crunch of plastic hitting pine needles. "Laura, Laura baby, don't close your eyes. Stay with me! Stay...stay with me."

Derek heard her sob. "Summer?"

It took her a while to pick up the phone again. "I couldn't stop the ble-bleeding. I'm so sorry..."

He just listened to her cry, listened to her apologize for something she had no control over. There was a cooling sensation pooling in his stomach and stretching over his entire torso and through his arms and down into his fingers.

Laura was dead. Killed by another werewolf.

"S-someone's coming. They've got guns."

"Hide. Summer, hide right now."

He pressed the phone closer to his ear and listened to her labored breathing. "Derek, what's going on? Why did I need to hide? Maybe they're gonna-"

"Summer. Stay hidden until they're gone, okay? You've got to trust me."

She gasped. "They're...they're taking her body, dragging her away."

"Can you see where they're taking her?"

"No. Should I follow them?"

"No! Stay put."

He listened to her breathe. It was short and raspy and then quickly accelerated. "They saw me..."

"Run. Run right now!"

And Summer ran. She ran, holding the cell phone in her hand as she continued to whimper.

But then he heard her fall. And her whimpers became screams. "Don't! Please don't! I didn't do anything! Please! _Please_!"

There was a rustling sound before a deep voice met Derek's ear. "This little girl of yours is in for a world of hurt."


	4. Chapter Three

Summer kept her eyes closed as she felt herself be dumped onto a cement floor. She was in so much pain already that the collision with the hard floor didn't really faze her at all. She had passed out after being smacked in the back of the head with a gun.

But Laura, being the strange sort of mother bear friend that she was, had attempted to teach Summer some survival skills. First, was make yourself aware of your surroundings. Second, listen to everything. Third, (and Summer took to this one the most readily) whenever possible, use sarcasm.

"She isn't one of them. We have to let her go."

"If she isn't one of them, why was she out there? Why was she basically howling like a bitch in heat over that dead wolf when we caught up to her?"

"I don't know. But she isn't healing—and don't call her a bitch. Look at her ankles. Both of them are nearly sprained and they aren't healing and those damn wounds in her side aren't healing either. Look, she's still bleeding all over my basement."

"Fine! Then, what do we do with her? Dump her back in the forest? That Alpha could be out there. And if he bites her and it takes, then we'll have another damned werewolf to take care of."

Well, tact be damned. Summer sat up as quickly as she could to look at her captors. It was just two men. One had gray hair and bright blue eyes and the other had spiky brown hair, and seemed to constantly bouncing on his heels.

"Werewolves?"

The blue-eyed man crossed his arms and leaned down toward her. "Yes, werewolves."

"That better be some sort of slang for a fucked up drug."

The blue-eyed man frowned. "You've got quite a mouth for someone who was just kidnapped."

"Maybe you bashed all of my sensibilities out of my head." She attempted to seem brave. She knew she was failing.

"We'll take her to the police station," the other man said. "They can deal with her mouth there. They'll probably put her in the drunk tank."

"They have to test my alcohol blood levels before they do that. And I haven't had a single drink. So, your stupid plan can go to hell." Summer turned to Blue Eyes again. "Just let me leave. Seriously. I won't tell anyone. I don't even know what the hell you're talking about. Look," she took a deep breath, "I just saw my best friend get mauled by a wild animal and she died in my arms. I just want to go home. Please."

Blue Eyes was quiet for a moment. "How long have you known her?"

"Laura? Like, six years. What does that have to do with anything? Wait. What are you going to do with her body? I swear if this is some fucked up black market organ dealing scheme or necrophilia crap, you bet your ass I'm gonna call the cops."

"This is about survival," the brown-haired man said.

"Are you cannibals? How in the hell is this about survival? Don't be cryptic! I've had enough cryptic mumbojumbo to last me a lifetime 'cause of the Hale family. Jesus, it's like they can't speak normally."

Blue Eyes was suddenly standing very close to Summer. "Did you say the Hales?"

"Yes. The Hale family. Apparently, they used to live down here until their house burned down. What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Did they tell you anything about their family?"

"I just told you they basically spoke in code for the entire six years I've known both of them. What makes you think I know anything about their family?"

"Them? Who's them?"

"Her brother."

"Derek?"

Summer didn't respond. Why should she give him Derek's name? So they could eat them too?

Blue Eyes scratched his chin as another person wheeled a sheet-covered gurney into the room. Blood was smeared across the sheet and made Summer's stomach turn.

"Is that her?" Summer asked.

Blue Eyes just pulled the sheet back to reveal Laura's blood-speckled face.

"What're you going to do with her?" She asked, angry. "Just let me take her and get out of here. Please, I don't want any trouble. I won't tell anyone. Just let us leave."

"You really don't have any idea what she is, do you?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Is this about that werewolf comment? You can't actually believe that werewolves are real!"

The brown-haired guy pulled back the sheet even farther to reveal that Laura had been cut in half. Summer couldn't control it. She immediately leaned forward and expelled the contents of her stomach.

"Jones! Look at what you did-"

"Sorry, boss," he shrugged, "I really thought showing her this would knock some sense into her."

Summer sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

Her vision was blurry. "Why? Why did you do that?"

"She's a werewolf," Blue Eyes said, his hot breath wafting across the skin of her neck. He grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her head up just in time to see the accomplice sprinkle purple petals over her face. The table shook for a few moments before Laura's hair receded into her skull and thick, black fur sprouted from every pore like an infectious fungus. "Now do you understand? She's lied to you. She's always lied to you. She's a monster and now we're going to use her to catch other monsters."

Summer promptly fainted.

* * *

The hotel room smelled like blood and bleach when she woke up. She didn't question how she got there. She knew that the people who had abducted her (and cut Laura in half) were basically capable of anything.

Her head hurt. It was beating in time with her heart. Every inch of her skin felt sticky and hot. Pulling away the sheet, she tried to keep the bile from rising in her throat again when she caught sight of the blood that had been smeared all over her skin.

Laura's blood.

Her cell phone beeped and she plucked it off the top of her bedside table and looked at it.

27 missed calls.

32 unread text messages.

All from Derek.

She didn't want to think about it but read a few.

He was coming.

_I have to explain._

Derek had repeated it several times in his messages.

But Summer just wanted to be clean.

The warm water of the shower quickly grew to scalding but she didn't move from out of the water's path. She needed to feel it nearly blistering her skin.

She needed to know she was alive.

When she stepped out of the shower, she didn't flinch when she saw the message Blue Eyes and his companion had left for her on the mirror.

_You have three days to leave._

* * *

Derek stepped into the airport and adjusted his hold on his bag for what seemed like the millionth time. Sweat was coating his palms and he nervously wiped his free hand on his jeans.

But then he saw her, battered and bruised by the luggage pick up.

Her shoulders were slumped and her usually well-kept hair was tied up into a messy bun and she hadn't bothered to put on makeup.

She looked up and spotted him. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his neck without a word.

His large hand pressed against the small of her back as he held her close. He could smell the dried blood on her, like she hadn't cleaned it all off in the shower.

She was tainted.


	5. Chapter Four

**I am SO SORRY about the long wait. My job and my schoolwork really sucked away all of my time and creative ability. And I know this chapter is short, but I promise I'll update on a weekly basis from now on! There should be about 20 parts to this story and after about 13, it will divert from the main storyline (after 3A). Thank you again for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews!**

* * *

"Oh, c'mon, Derek. I've shared a bed with Laura. It won't be any different with you," Summer said after they returned from the hotel's restaurant for dinner. They hadn't really talked in public but Derek tried to explain his family's past to Summer who seemed to easily accept anything he said. He blamed it on the fact that she had been kidnapped by a group of hunters after seeing his sister killed. He tried to find comfort in the fact that she didn't run from him.

"Yeah, except I am a guy-"

"Yes, a guy toward whom I have no attraction. And you know I always win arguments. Just get in my bed and have a decent night's sleep."

Derek frowned.

"Jesus Christ, it isn't like I'm asking to spoon. Just sleep. I need sleep. You need sleep. And quite frankly, I can't sleep without someone next to me after what happened in the woods. Please...just sleep next to me. At least until I can find a poor sap to lure back here."

"And when you go back to New York? What will happen then?"

Summer sighed. "Nick's been blowing up my phone. Maybe he won't be too mad about being my bed warmer again."

Derek's frown deepened. "I don't like Nick."

"Well, he doesn't like you either. And you need to just stop making me feel worse about myself and either get in my bed or I'm gonna go to a bar and find some guy who's drunk off his ass and I'll use him and hope that he doesn't kill me in the middle of the night. Your choice." She crossed her arms but her usual smirk didn't touch her lips.

Derek nearly growled before pulling off his shirt and grabbing the blankets on the bed. "You owe me."

"No, I don't. You're being a good friend and you're too macho to let me repay you in anyway." She peeled off her cardigan and kicked off her boots before sliding underneath the blankets. Derek slowly slid in beside her. Summer turned on her side, giving her back to him and shut off the lamp.

Derek closed his eyes and listened to her move under the Egyptian cotton sheets and heard the "thud" of her jeans hitting the ground.

"Don't say anything," Summer said, a light growl of her own in her voice.

"I'm not going to."

"Good." She was quiet for a little longer. "Thank you for doing this."

"You're welcome."

He listened to her heartbeat slow and then even out, her breath coming out in long tufts.

Derek didn't sleep that night. He couldn't get the scent of his sister's and Summer's blood out of his nose. It surrounded and suffocated him but he didn't pull away from her even as she rolled atop him in the middle of the night. She cried when she was asleep and Laura's name came out like a broken whimper.

Derek continued to listen to her slow, melodic heartbeat even as she started to drool across his chest. One of her arms was draped across his chest and her other hand had somehow managed to tangle in his dark locks. The entire length of her body was pressed up against his. It fit like a tiny puzzle piece against him. Perfect.

And god, he hated it.

Or he wanted to hate it.

She moaned a little bit as her eyes started to open, bleary and unfocused as the sun started to rise.

"Oh god," she said, wiping her drool off his chest, "I'm sorry. That's super embarrassing."

He didn't say anything but sat up as she stretched and grabbed her jeans, slipping back into them. He might have caught sight of the pale expanse of her toned thighs but attempted to keep his eyes focused on the window just above her head.

"So, what're we doing today?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" He asked in return.

"We're going after the wolf, aren't we? The one that killed Laura."

"It isn't that simple, Summer."

She turned to him, her green eyes ablaze. "What isn't simple about it? It killed Laura and I want it dead. If it wasn't for that damn wolf I would still have my best friend here with me and I wouldn't be having nightmares about werewolves and hunters. What isn't simple? I want it dead."

Derek stayed quiet but rose from the bed and pulled on his own jeans and pulled a shirt on over his head before slipping on his shoes and jacket. Laura had given him that jacket.

"Why can't you help me kill it?"

"I told you. It is an Alpha. They aren't easily killed."

"Laura was an Alpha! Laura was a fucking werewolf and he just tore her to pieces—he tore her to pieces in front of me." It looked like she wanted to cry but the tears, if there were any behind her lids, didn't fall onto her pallid cheeks.

"Don't you want something to happen to the hunters?"

"No. At least they're trying to kill it." She ran a hand through her hair and tugged at it.

"They _kidnapped_ you."

She shrugged. "Look, I have a two days left until the hunters come after me. I don't want to spend it cowering in this hotel room with you...or spending it alone while you try and solve it by yourself." She stepped up to him and tugged at his jacket, making him smell the blood again. "So, you're either taking me with you or you're going to be okay with me doing this on my own." She stared up at him and he saw no emotion behind those eyes except for determination.

"Fine."


End file.
